Elagabalus the mad emperor

Here is my Elagabaulus facing his demise Julia Moesa.

 

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Elagabalus aka Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus aka Varius Avitus Bassianus

O: "IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG" Laureate bust of Elagabalus, draped, horn.
R: "SACRED DEI SOLIS ELAGAB" Elagabalus standing left holding patera over altar. Club in left hand, star in right field.- RSC 252

This is the rare, initial, SACERD DEI SOLIS ELAGABAL type, with the emperor sacrificing left not right, and with the star erroneously behind him rather than before him. The star apparently stood for his sun god, to whom the emperor was depicted sacrificing, and therefore it should have been placed before him, above his patera and the altar.

We know that the star behind the emperor was wrong, because on quite a few dies of all four emperor-sacrificing types the star was eradicated from behind the emperor and re-engraved in front of him. Note that on this obverse Elagabalus is still unbearded, confirming the early date (c. summer 221).

The normal type, emperor sacrificing right, star before him, was represented by 181 specimens in the Reka Devnia hoard, compared to 3 specimens for this early variety.

 

so that is damm good denarius beautiful !!

 

Great thread with many super coins! I'll add this provincial of Nicaea that arrived last week. These legionary standard types on the bronzes of Nicaea started during the Severan dynasty and became quite common by the time of Gordian III. They're still quite scarce for Elagabalus, however. I like the thick jade patina on this coin with a little dirt to offset the devices. Also, it's nicely-centered. You see a lot of these types that are just all over the map...

 

I need to recall that Elagabalus was assassinated by the Roman Praetorian Guard at the age of twenty, because he wanted to introduce his Syrian god ( The ultimate god of the Sun) in the Roman Myth or religion.

 

Yes, which is odd, as the Romans were, in general, willing to appropriate foreign gods into their pantheon without too much wrangling. But his character also played into the disaffection of the Praetorian guard. An important lesson if you ever get to be Roman emperor: don't piss off your military. It NEVER ends well!

 

TIF speaking about Emesa, what about these beauties?

 

Terrific posts all!!!

And that Post by Nemo is fantastic!!!

 

Tif, I got the coin it is a little bit different..

 

I don't even understand what coin you're showing us?

 

Nothing rare, but a very nice denarius, Sol with whip. He looks like the FTD man, however. Knock, knock, your bouquet is here, happy birthday!

 

I was in Poland when this thread was started. Some very nice coins.

 

This is Severus Alexander. Alexander starts at the crack into his head and follows to behind Maesa's head where her name begins.

 

Tiff showed her magnificent stone denarius and we have had several Eastern tetradrachms but I'll tack on a few other Eastern denarii. I have been a fan of the style for years but see rather few of them.

 

Nuttin' fancy with mine, but I do have an Ant from that pervertus maximus...

Roman Empire
AR Antoninianus 20mm, 4g
Elegabalas (AD 218-222)
Rome mint AD 218
OBV: IM PCAES MAVR ANTONINVS AVG, Radiate, draped and cuirassed bust r.
REV: P M TRP COS PP, Roma seated l. holding Victory and scepter, shield below
REF: RIC IV 1, Cohen 125